Oh!! I am so happy to receive your comment and know that someone has collected all the endings!! It really takes a lot of time, thank you!
I'm also glad that "artstyle" is what "by the way" is about! I spent a lot of time thinking about and revising the plot, ending, and character development, so it really made me feel proud that the whole game was praised and not just the art (〃'▽'〃)
Owww, that's so sweet... That's the happiest thing I've heard recently... o(╥﹏╥)o
My biggest wish is to make all the characters feel special and vivid in the story! And Aris is definitely one of the most important ones!
I started writing this story because there's a lack of "bad" protagonists in romance games. I've seen a lot of opinions that say an imperfect protagonist makes the development of the love interest falling for them feel "fake" or even "absurd."
But what about the opposite? There are plenty of popular games where a soft, gentle protagonist falls madly in love with a bad love interest, accepts all their flaws, and "heals" them. (Maybe it's because I play a lot of Japanese or Chinese games! There are clearly fewer of these in Western games, which is nice!)
I designed the routes with this in mind! Bryant's personality might have been the type to be mean to the protagonist, but his experience of falling from the Upper and struggling alone made him grow and become the only positive presence in the game. He can empathize with Aris and is willing to drop his "tsundere" side for him. So every time I write their interactions, I feel very heartwarming. Bryant is also the only person in the game that Aris can confide in.
Deacon, on the other hand, is more like a "reversal" of the usual love interest pattern. A bad protagonist and a soft, seductive love interest! In this sense, Deacon and Aris's personalities are very compatible, with one willing to fight and the other willing to endure. But it's not just that. Aris is the one in the game who truly needs to be "conquered," and he's quite difficult. It can be said that Deacon's relationship won't be smooth sailing...
Caeran is the route I really wanted to write. One bad and one good? A bit boring. I wanted to see two bad guys battling each other (??) and constantly adjusting to defeat each other. It can be said that this route has the weakest sense of "redemption" and "romance," but Aris truly redeems himself. That's why I spent a lot of time making C789, depicting Aris's intense inner conflicts.
Alright!! I've rambled a lot!! If you don't mind, I'd also love to hear your "gush"!! (^▽^) Who's your favorite character? What's the most memorable plot point? Did any of the supporting characters leave an impression?
OH MY GOD YOU CAN'T ASK ME A FAVORITE CHARACTER, But gun to my head I'd say Caeran
See, me personally I have a very small brain but I love a good mystery, like whose green haired man Why's Caeran a psycho? I mean that's kinda obvious but like... WHAT'S HIS ORIGIN STORY OMG
I personally love Bryant too, I feel like he's the most mature out of the cast and I really feel like he's like one of the only sense's of calm in Aris' Life
AS FOR THE SIDE CHARACTERS WHOOO BOY THE SIDE CHARACTERS, HOW'D YOU WRITE THEM SO GOOD, THE WAY WHEN I GASPED OUT LOUD WHEN I DISCOVERED WHO TRONE'S SISTER WAS ACHHH. ALSO I LOVE ME SOME YURI DOOMED YURI IS MY LIFE, SO I LOVE THE BOND BETWEEN MAEVE AND VALIEN honestly their ending was one of my favorites lmao ahhh their so cute I love their dynamic.
Also side note: I love trone's design (Does he work at a fried chicken place because he's fiery hot?)
mmmm plot point I'd say the whole jazz with Aris' super powers, heck the whole powers thing in the first place. Also the rebellion, WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THEM WHY ARE THEY LIKE THIS?! HOW IS MY SON ANDERSCHA DOING LIKE- Also I really wanna discover more about "THE TREE" Itself, also Aris burned it like you go man. i really wanna find out more about aris' dad and mom
And oh my god C678 ARIS LIKE BECAME A FUNCTIONAL HUMAN BEING (sorta?) okay yeah no he didn't but likE ARIS HAVING CHARCTER DEVELOPMENT!? AM I IN THE RIGHT TIMELINE!?!?!? IT'S SO GOOD I SWEAR
Also my first ever ending I ever got was "with the rebels" So i knew nothing about them so now when I realised and went back and discovered it was THAT rebel group I was just like :OOOOOOOOO OH MY GOD FORESHADOWING
the whole rolling dice thing for endings is also super unique like, I've never seen that in any vn before, where did you get your inspiration Moka-sama?
ANYWAY I'M SORRY ABOUT THE HUGE POST but I did promise to gush!!! Keep up the good work!!!
Also the story about why you made the game as it is, TELL ME ABOUT IT there should be more evilish protagonists in media, not the same nice guy/girl every 5 seconds!!! People are varied and it's sooo boring to play as the "good guy" every single time. Sometimes a person just wants to step on everyone on their way to the top you know? Be unashamedly and irredemably an asshole. So I appreciate Aris so much for that.
Also like there are like so many red flags for love intrests in visual novel's and people obsess over their routes. Why can't the protag be the red flag for once, The route that everyone wants you know? Sometimes you see a train wreck and wonder I wonder what would happen if I dived in??
Ah! Another two paragraphs, Author what have you done!? You made me write an essay on a piece of media I like!!! Willingly!!!
Thank you so much for writing all of this!! It really touched me, and I feel like you really hit the nail on the head and put a lot of thought into the plot TvT. That's really great!!
To avoid spoilers, I'll say that Caeran's story will be revealed later. He craves the feeling of family and is afraid of being abandoned. (Which is actually quite cute...!!(#^.^#)) Also, people who have been in the research institute have mostly gone crazy...
I'm really glad you mentioned Maeve and Valien!! They are actually my favorite characters in this work! I like writing about the girls TT M&V are not really yuri, but more like best friends forever (bff). I really like their ending too!! True health and healing awww…………
However, there is a real yuri couple here... and they have hinted at their relationship in one of the B-route endings! But people might be surprised by their actual relationship 罒ω罒
The resistance is basically the hidden main storyline of this work! They have different endings and highlights in each route. I have to say Andershcha is a bit pitiful... His part is relatively short, and he never gets true happiness.
Another one of my friends also really likes the "with the rebels" ending! She says Aris is very cute here. And then I was like: Heh... There's a huge conspiracy here... After playing the B-line, you'll find out that Nessie's superpower is like brainwashing, so Aris here is more like fake "happiness" rather than truly being changed. I find that really interesting! I think Aris might curse them like "fuck LIARS!!!" after waking up (???)
Basically, Aris gains superpowers in every route, but since it requires hurting oneself to be effective and often needs a strong will from the user. Since the Aris in the B-line and D-line are a bit spoiled... the Aris in the C-line is undoubtedly the strongest in terms of combat and intelligence.(*^▽^*)
Rolling the dice comes from the entire story's worldview! "A small action can lead to huge changes," and it's really interesting to explore, allowing for bold imagination of all sorts of incredible possibilities.
In fact, the side characters (mainly the resistance!), the worldview, and the dice system were all thought of before this work was created. The game originally started as a simple 300-word short story. I spent ten days writing the first draft, three chapters a day, and incorporating those small ideas that came to mind during the writing process. It eventually grew from 300 words to 87,000 words, which is incredible even to me!!
This is also the only story I've actually finished writing, and it really makes me proud, so I invested a lot of time into it. At first, it was almost ignored, but surprisingly, it received a lot of kind support during its development. I'm really glad I took that first step and stuck with it TT.
I really love your comments^^ Every word makes me smile! I'm used to the romance getting more attention, while the "mystery" part gets comments like "boring," "confusing," and "sort of forgot about it"... It's great to know that someone cares about what happens next!! It makes me feel like all this effort is really meaningful! Thank you so much for taking the time to write down your thoughts, Inui_lmao-chan! This is really special!!(〃'▽'〃)
OMG this really snowballed huh? WELL THANK GOD FOR YOU WRITING MORE, MORE FOR ME TO ENJOY
I love stories with the butterfly effect and stuff like that because looking at all possible timelines and gathering the information and then being like "Oh yeah, it's all coming together" IS SO SATISFYING AHHHHHHHH
Also I'm pretty sure you mentioned this in one of your comments but the bgm is sooooo good, like I usual have a video or some background noise but here i have to turn it off since the bgm REALLY adds to the atmosphere, god I'm so happy someone realises how important sound design is in video games!!! ALSO NOW I HAVE TO BE THE YURI DETECTIVE AND FIND THE SECRET YURI COUPLE I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE MOKA-SAMA!!! >:>
ALSO I FORGOT TO BLABBER ABOUT THE WORLD
"The Tree" and the whole shabang is just a really interesting concept in general LIKE YOU ACTUALLY SEE WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH IT RATHER THAN IT JUST BEING A SETTING, IT IS A DRIVING FORCE IN THE PLOT AND I LOVE THAT. Like typically in a lot of novels with this setting like hunger games etc etc It's just a set up to have the protagonist be bullied and then have a big strong misunderstood guy save them and rise up against the system but here.
ARIS STOOD UP TO IT AND FACED THE CONSEQUENCES. AND NOW HE TRIES TO APPEAL TO THAT VERY SAME SYSTEM HE TRIED TO REBEL FROM (Well it wasn't rebellion rebellion but hey you know) LIKE DUDE WAS AN IMMATURE KID AND NOW IS SUFFERING THE CONSEQUENCES AS AN ADULT LIKE
THE SETTING IS ACTUALLY SUPER REALISTIC, A SYSTEM THAT A WHOLE SOCIETY RUNS ON IS NOT GONNA BE CHANGED OVER NIGHT, IT RUNS DEEP TO THE VERY CORE AND ALL OUR CHARACTERS HAVE BEEN AFFECTED BY IT IN SOME WAY OR THE OTHER THAT LEADS TO THEM BECOMING WHO THEY ARE TODAY
aris is well aris
deacon faced discrimination coming from the lower classes
Bryant settled down in the middle layer and figured his stuff out and
Caeran, well I can't really comment much on him because well it's obvious
THE WHOLE CONCEPT OF SUPER POWERS AND EATING PEOPLE IS A PRETTY UNIQUE AMAZING COMBINATION TOO LIKE- OH MY GOD
Sorry to write paragraph responses to you Author TT Your fault for making an amazing game.
Thank you! I'm really happy about this TT. I spent a lot of time adjusting and looking for BGM, especially in the C route. Music can really set the mood well! A lot of times, it also gives me inspiration to write more scenes. Making games are really interesting, not just in the text, but also in how the visuals and music help convey emotions.(*^▽^*) I've wanted to make a female oriented story game for a long time!!
Thank you so much for being interested in my other works!! I think I might turn these ideas into games after FCWCLF is done. I already have about three ideas that I really want to realize! (Shocked?!)
The whole "Tree" system is based on the "class-based society" concept from another romance game I played, combined with dystopian elements. The unfolding and answering of the world-building are still quite superficial at the moment, and I can't wait to continue writing the next chapters! But I have a really difficult entrance exam coming up... TT So until then we have to stop...
I also really love the theme of the butterfly effect! Superpowers and cannibalism make the story very fantastical and quirky hhh. Thank you for keeping the secrets about Caeran! I think it's the biggest twist so far, and it's very interesting! When I wrote the beginning of C7, my first thought was "This is great!" and then I realized it might be a bit hard to read??!! Well, but it's interesting!? That moment of realization makes C a very charming character hhh. My friend went back and rewatched all the scenes with E (the green-haired man) after playing it (*╹▽╹*) But before that she was the most unsympathetic person to C, which is really funny hhh
